I picked it up , just by excident . Than , after being shocked by exellency of photography , I loked at the name of the author ... Tom Kumpf ...
I was shoked , surprised , and heart by his work ! As published author , kind of famouse photographer ... all I can say to Mr. Kumpf : WOW ! ... Highly recomended !!!

I met Tom this past weekend in Dublin, OH and talked to him for quite a while. Being a photographer, I was interested in hearing his thoughts on process and technique and other techie stuff. While talking to him I looked through his book and realized that this was much more than technical work. When I got home and started reading it I realized the importance of his work. I highly recommend this book not just for the photos but for the stories that go with them. Excellent work.

Tom Quinn Kumpf has written a beautiful book. The photography is outstanding and the narrative reveals an unusual insight into the plight of the children, victims of the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Kumpf does not point fingers or take sides. He tells it as he saw it in Belfast.

This book is a good introduction to the life of Clarence Darrow. It spans all his major cases and leaves the reader with awe for a man whose ability as an attorney in the Dr. Oscar Sweet case in Detroit, Michigan in 1925 was as if God had descended heaven from Heaven to win the freedom of a black professional who was accused of murder in an America that already had witnessed the Tulsa, Oklahoma and St. Louis race riots. His defense of the poor in the anthracite coal case of 1902 and the rioters in the Haymarket case stand as models for Americans of any age. The only weakness in the book is that his addresses to juries are not included. Clarence Darrow is as important to Americans as Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were in the eras of the Civil War and the Great Depression. I recommend this book for all Americans of all ages. He was a defender of the poor and a defender of the values and ethics of American society. Elliot Spitzer, the Attorney General of the State of New York, is some ways bears resemblance to Clarence Darrow. I recommend the book highly, the reverence I have for the life of Clarence Darrow is huge only for God do I have more.

Clarence Darrow was a very interesting man, however history may view him. I found this biography by Irving Stone to be very educational. Darrow was involved in some of the most famous trials around the turn of the century that defined labor laws, capital punishment laws as well as laws defining religious discrimination with the well known Scopes Evolution Case over the teaching of the Darwin theory of evolution in the classroom. This famous case known as the 'Monkey' trials pitted fundamentalists against more liberal evolutionists in a landmark case that defined freedom and equality of religious teaching throughout the United States. Darrow was a defense attorney, and his viewpoint on representing a client was to simply provide the best defense possible. This did not always go with the popular opinion of society in his day, and he was often hated by many for some of the people he defended in the courtroom. I think it is notable that in many of his more famous cases and not so famous he was never paid, as he defended people who had no money. In this way he showed a compassion for his fellow man which one does not often associate with the profession of lawyers in the modern day. As I read this biography, I found myself many times not agreeing with Darrow's viewpoints and decisions to defend certain people, including the famous Loeb & Leopold Case. I marveled at his final solution to plead guilty in the defense of the McNamaras Case in 1911, a point of integrity after learning his client was truly guilty. This case cost his the support and friendship with organized labor parties after over thirty years, as well as resulted in a massive attack on him personally, but he weathered the storm and carried onward. However, I was able at the end to reflect on this man's tenacity to his own integrity to follow what he believed was right, despite popular opinion. His sense of morals were different from my own, and I would be untruthful to say I completely agreed with Darrow. I did however find myself respecting him for impact he had on our country's history, and his exposing of the industrial abuses that paralleled slave camps in the late 1800's definitely shined the light on man's inhumanity to man. All in all I found this to be a very interesting biography about a very interesting man. I think anyone interested in American history, particularly that of the history of organized labor in our country should definitely read this one. This is a great read. Darrow having been a well known public speaker in his day, delivered some of the most profound speaches inside and outside the courtroom. Many of his famous defense final arguments are still studied today in many law schools, but most notable is the fact that he delivered many of these speeches without the aide of notes or other written material. Many people who heard these speeches were included in this book, and consistently he is remembered as having really had a way of moving an audience and changing their viewpoints in doing so. Irving Stone really did his background research in compiling this book, including reading many of Darrow's own private papers, court records, interviewing people who knew Darrow and studying newspapers from the time period. I think anyone would find this book facinating from a purely historical perspective. It is too bad this book is currently out of print, but it is worth searching used book stores or searching Amazon's out-of-print services to get a copy and read it.

A good history of the times. I hope this book will inspire you. Eric...

This book portrays every aspect of the thoroghbred racehorse along with beautiful and timeless portraits of truly great and influential champions. I would recommend it to anyone involved in thoroughbred, quarterhorse, paint or appaloosa racing.

I purchased this book when it first became available over twenty years ago. The paintings and the text are wonderful. Each featured racehorse is described so vividly-their unique personalities brought to life. I would love to hear from others who admire the equine athlete as I do.

I was lucky enough to purchase one of the first editions of Classic Lines which is signed by the author. It is one of my pride possessions.

The brilliantly written text puts you in the stable with these horses, telling you about their little idiosyncrasies, like Hyperion's point-blank refusal to work, but he could run like the wind, and loved having his photograph taken. This is what grabs the heart of a true horse lover. I still tingle with excitement and get shivers down my spine, when I pick up this book and read the stories of these magnificent race horses.

Having bred thoroughbreds, ridden them in all types of eventing and loved them all my life, this book is something I cherish. The drawings by Reeves are perfect and reflect the poetry in motion of these exquisite creatures, on every page. Order this book now you will not regret it.

This book is awesome! It has a great plot and Susan Cooper is 'a born storyteller'. It's not as popular as Harry Potter, but that's probably only because it's not as new. These books have the same theme, though presented in different ways: good vs evil. Prof. Dumbledore and Merriman Lyon are also similiar characters.
However, the Dark is Rising is deeper than Harry Potter. Voldemort is only one wizard, but the Dark is Rising deals with the more evil side of people that everyone has. It also reflects that we, and only we, can change the world, and God (or the Old Ones etc. in this case) can only help so much. Yet in Harry Potter, the whole world seems to be relying on one person to keep away evil: yes, you guessed it, Harry. Also, often Harry Potter only gets exciting at the climax. But the Dark is Rising keeps readers in suspense all the time; you could almost say the book was full of mini-climaxes.
Of course, there are ways in which Harry potter is better. It is not so serious (is that a pro or a con?), and that is probably why it is (or was, anyway) aimed at a younger audience. Readers can also see more of themselves in Harry & co. than, say, Will Stanton.
Overall, and some people might not agree with me, but the Dark is Rising is a far better book than Harry Potter. But take your pick: more fantasy? Harry Potter. More realistic? The Dark is Rising. But then, who says you can't have both? Happy reading!

The Dark is Rising series has everything including: magic, evil, good, mortals, immortals, and last of all a great plot!!!!!!

A great series that stimulates the imagination and leaves you wanting more. A series that I read in school when I was younger that has me wanting to read it again after many years.

What a great followup to Hazard's Price. I hope Mr. Stone continues this series, as he has suddenly become one of my favorite authors.

This is a refreshingly fast and fun read, with lots of action, twists and turns which kept me guessing. Also number of interesting surprises. The ending is a real cliffhanger (pun intended).

The ending really pleased and surprised me... I expected a treatment like an X-files episode, where the alien/psychic/mutant/whatever gets away at the end and the viewer is left somewhat unsatified since there is no "resolution"... In this book, there is a surprising and unexpected resolution at the end. What could be next! An even greater and more mysterious story has just begun...can't wait for the next book in the series!

In this second book in the series, Mr. Stone's writing really seems to come into it's own. The entire story is a pressure cooker with just a few brief respites for the characters (and reader). I really did not expect this book to develop such a powerful feeling of being a global epic involving military coups and bids for continental mastery as a backdrop to the very personal battle that the main characters engage in. Even some truly thought provoking passages as a bonus.

Great tension between the characters, both those working with one another and those working to destroy one another. Some great new monsters have been thrown in (the druzem) along with the traditional (a manticore, for example).

But best of all was the incredible ending that left me wondering just how big the "boom" is going to be when Mr. Stone decides to blow the whole thing wide open!

A great read and more than worthy follow up to Hazard's Price.

Stone's gripping fantasy series comes to it's own in this
novel his world-building skills are impressive as he once again takes us to a world reeling from a horrible mage war and how mages created a spell to take the magic out of the world and NOW a sorcerer called Madh and the assassin, Hain seek to undue the spell!
Brandt Karrelian, the former spy turned Idustrialist is obsessed in hunting down the sadistic assasin called Hain who crippled his best friend.He is aided by childhood friend and thief called Marwick, the chaldean spy Elena Imbress and seasoned forest, Callom Pell. This novel has it all: plot twists as you see power-hungry chaldean general Amet Pale schemes to control the country.
Our heroes must battle mythical monsters, bloodthirsty cult of immortal killers.Stone's action sequences are violent and mesmerizing as you see magical battles and scenes of brutal hand to hand combat and the final confrontation between Karrelian and Hain a top of a stone Island! I look forward to reading the next book and If Robert Stone is reading this review all I got to say is: Hurry up and write the next book! :)

This is an amazing book to read after reading Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August." Both books deal with the psychology of war but Susan Griffin addresses modern war on the level of the individual; telling stories of both the victims and the perpetrators of war's atrocities. Susan attempts something new in her style that is very effective on one hand but difficult for the reader on the other. She asks "Who are we?" and then answers that there are so many strands to a story and one must trace every strand. She literally takes this idea as her form and weaves the threads of several stories together on the same page. I found each "thread" fascinating but ultimately I ended up reading each separately so that I would not lose my grasp on the story. I found Chapters 1 through 5 to be fascinating. The last chapter entitled, "Notes Toward A Sketch for A Work in Progress" is just that--an abrupt departure from the main body of the book. It's what's left over in her journal that she didn't quite fit into the book but still wanted to include anyway. It's interesting but not as engaging as the first 5 chapters. The book is gloomy and yes, Susan Griffin has a depressing outlook on life, but even doomsayers can be valuable soothsayers in our society.

So much of history is centered on warfare. And then, so much of warfare is historically rooted in a traditional perspective of leaders, politics, and other "big" events. Is there a deeper and more complex truth to all this?

Now, here comes Susan Griffin, and her ideas flow freely out of the conventional boxes of interpretation. In "Chorus of Stones," she examines "small" events, and especially the internal dynamics of family relationships, and then links them to the "big" events -- like the invention of the hydrogen bomb or the decision to fire-bomb Dresden. In the process, she shows the reader how such wide-sweeping historical catastrophes like wars are inextricably connected with small, often trivialized realities whose real significance can go unnoticed, or even be repressed. If you ever thought about the old adage that "we won't understand war until we understand why couples argue with each other," then this book will fascinate you. It's a real shame that it hasn't received more attention, for it challenges so many of our notions about the separation of "personal" and "public" lives. Fascinating through and through!

In this book, Griffin explores the connections between subtle violences and small denials, and horrible huge violences such as war, especially the second world war with the holocaust and the use of the atomic bomb as a weapon. One could say that this material has been covered before, but my description really does not do her work justice. The book is a highly imaginative meditation on the connections between events at different times and at different parts of the world, and between internal and external events. She traces the lives of a few historical figures including Gandhi, Himmler, and a British general, woven into the rest of the book. Also, there are some poetical descriptions of biological processes, mostly at the cellular level, and as a cell biologist, I must say that she has her facts straight, which gives me more confidence in the other parts of the book which I know less about (historical events). I feel Griffin does what an artist should do - put into words (or some form that we can understand) thoughts and feelings that are just beneath our own threshhold of consciousness.

Kadare gives us a stunning view of Albania during World War II, as well as life in general as seen through the eyes of a child. At times very serious, at others very whimsical, he weaves a sort of magic through his words

Gjirokaster, Albania. Not a spot that rings a lot of bells for most people. But if you read this brilliant novel, you will never forget the place, even if you never actually get there. Once, four years ago, I did go there. Square gray houses rise from the steepest, most outlandish spots, houses made in the Ottoman merchant style of the mid-19th century, half-fort, half-mansion. The narrow streets wound around the hillsides that looked out over a vast green valley, snow-capped peaks towering into the clear blue sky. Grape arbors and trees poked over walls, quiet passersby disappeared into crooked alleys. A small boy guided me to Kadare's house. I wished to see the cistern underneath, the one that trapped all the raindrops that "recalled with dreary sorrow the great spaces of sky they would never see again". But the house was closed. The descriptions of the house--fictional or actual--made me recall how I imagine the house of my own childhood. Higher up the hill, after twisting through more lanes of stone, I came to former supremo Enver Hoxha's house, recently turned into an "ethnographic museum". A scorpion skittered across the floor and I killed it. I visited the great vaults under the citadel where the citizens escaped the bombings. The whole town was alive for me because I had read CHRONICLE IN STONE. Other great writers bring Paris, London, Moscow, New York, or Tokyo to life. Kadare has put Gjirokaster on the list of immortal towns with this volume. It is a wonderful book of a town and its bad times-from 1939 to after the end of World War II-through the eyes of a boy. In his usual style, the author weaves many thoughts, dreams, scenes, tragedies, and historical events into a seamless whole. It's a tour de force. Read it.

Different, entertaining, puzzling, this book requires the reader to leave all stereotypes behind and read it for what happens within its covers. It is an excellently put together mosaic of the twisted, gray, and dreamlike world of a small Albanian town in the beginning of World War II. The narrative voice (or rather eye) is that of a child growing up in a borderline time where age old superstitions collide with the new century struggling to make its way through the southern Albanian mountains, together with occupying armies and the first brothel. The child's eye is the mirror that both reflects and distorts apparences, thus actually getting to the center of the truth of the times. The reader is transported into a world of odd and often disturbing images, a mixture of tragedy and comedy, politics and sexuality. Brilliant use of the language, unfortunately some of it is lost in translation.

Okay, let's say I was expecting actual meditations to record and listen to. Not so. What you get with this book is basically a Celtic rosary. Tells you what kind of beads to acquire to assemble your own rosary-type thing, and gives short Celtic poems to recite. Kinda interesting. I am actually inspired to make my own take-off from this idea and write little "prayers" that are meaningful to me. The little poems are presented in Gaelic and English, though there are no pronunciations next to the Gaelic, which was a little disappointing. There is a little pronunciation guide in the back, though, but I find it lacking many sounds I couldn't figure out. It is by no means a large tome. You could nearly call it a booklet. Based on looks, I probably wouldn't have bought it, or certainly wouldn't have paid as much as I did sight-unseen.

Although I don't look at Danu and Bile (Erynn's main "Celtic" deities) in the same way, the rest of the information is very helpful in creating, not only a Celtic Pagan rosary, but a Celtic Pagan circle of magic. I tend to see the winds differently than she does too (I stand in the South, to call the North wind across the "land" to welcome the energies of Samhain and full new year-winter stuff) but everything else is either completely useable without changing it, or just needs a little tweek to fit. I would recommend that anyone who uses it, even if they use each prayer word for word, that they copy it in their own writing. It will orient you physically with the magic of the words and into her idea of a Celtic circle.

Highly recommended for anyone wishing to get to know their Celtic Pagan roots without the trappings of too much neo-pagan and Wiccan influence. I hope she writes another book again soon.

I just got this a couple of days ago. I expected a little gift style book of Irish poetry and wisdom. Instead I got a wonderful insight into the beliefs of the ancient Celts of Ireland.

I've been trying to find a book on the religon of ancient Ireland and this is a wonderful insight into their beliefs. I plan to make my own Circle of Stones and practise the meditations provided.

For anyone following a Celtic path, who have Irish ancestry or love all things to do with the Celts, this book is a must.

Stone certainly achieved what he set out to do- he synthesized and distilled he contents of a small new age library into a single, easy to read book. However, he could have used a bit more critical thinking. His pages are populated by an extraordinarily varied "zoo" of spiritual entities and higher agencies, all of whom can perform miraculous feats for us if we just ask. The "ascension mediation" at the end of the book, for example, appeals to about 60 spiritual agencies in its opening.

Where does all this information come from? The answer, in most cases, is: channeled information. It seems like Stone worked every entity ever mentioned by some channel into his tapestry, and still, he makes no mention of what many people consider the most reliable material in this field- Jane Roberts' Seth works.

Using cranio-sacral testing, I have investigated just how much of Stone's material is accurate. The answer I received was: about 30%. That's in line with my experience with many of Stone's suggestions to ask particular agencies for help: they don't work. Or at least, they didn't work for me. Maybe I'm just too spiritually unevolved to this kind of stuff.

That's not to say that this book is bad. On the contrary, much of Stone's advice for spiritual growth (as contained in the "147 golden keys for ascension") seems solid. But the reader would be well advised to not take any particular piece of information at face value.

This book is a must read for any spiritual seeker and those that are consciously on path of ascension or spiritual evolution! I imagine anyone who considers themselves spiritually minded and open-minded will benefit greatly from this book.

Dr. Stone creates a wonderful, spirit-led synopsis of how to understand the Spiritual structure of the universe, your part in it, and how to grow and prepare yourself for the upcoming evolution of our planet.

It is a shame this work is out of print. I really enjoyed it. It is deeper than most of Bond's work, with more thought-provoking material, but not so thick that it is tiresome

I randomly picked this book off a library shelf as something to help a boring afternoon pass by, and was surprised at how enthralling it was. I was surprised to learn this title was out of print, because the colorful palette of characters and their problems are so thought provoking that I wished to own the book myself. Nancy Bond introduces the two families of the Ibbetsons and the Prines who are forced together when the divorced Prine mother Valerie maries the widowed Ibbetson father Edward. Their children must accept eachother and they all must learn how to get along as a family, parents included. But that is not the point of the book, that is merely one of the layers that this book takes you to. Valerie is an archaeologist who is excavating the ruins of a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall in the Northumbria region of England, and that is why all of the family must move to Wintergap, a gloomy house built in the harsh climate of northern Britain. Penelope, the only Ibbetson daughter is the main character, and she is the first to sense the dark history of the house. I could go into deep details through the multiple layered plot leading to a horrible accident but that would ruin the story. The suspense makes you keep reading to find out how everything turns out. The most interesting part of the story in my opinion is the friendship that forms between Penelope and a local farmer boy whose family has been feuding with the previous residents of Wintergap, where Penelope lives, and despite her families warnings to stay away from the troublesome Robsons, Penelope must learn how to bring back together the divided land, and somehow make amends. This is a must read for children ages thirteen through adult as it is thought provoking, suspenseful and full of historical accuracy and astonishing details, but because of some minor language issues I wouldn't reccomend it for children under thirteen.

One of the best books I have ever read--about a feud in Northumbira ending in disaster, and Penelope (the main character) learning a valuable lesson about good and evil.